In the first endorsement of its kind, the mayor of a Muslim-majority Michigan suburb formally expressed his support of Donald Trump‘s reelection, breaking ties with leaders in the area and his political party.
He wrote on his Facebook page in Arabic, “Though it’s looking good, he may or may not win the election and be the 47th president of the United States, but I believe he is the right choice for this critical time. I’ll not regret my decision no matter what the outcome would be, and I’m ready to face the consequences. For this, and for many other reasons, I announce my support and endorsement for the former, and hopefully, the next president of the United States, Donald Trump.”
Conservatives have seen an unusual surge in support from Muslim communities, especially as it relates to pro-LGBTQ curriculum in public education.
Trump is seizing the opportunity, and has expressed enthusiasm towards his newfound support.
Breitbart news reports:
Trump, in a nearly hourlong phone interview Sunday, told Breitbart News he is very open to going to Hamtramck for a campaign event and to meet with leaders of the Arab American community who are upset with the failures of Harris’s and President Joe Biden’s administration.
He sang high praises for the mayor.
“I was very impressed with him and he was a very big fan of the Trump administration because he saw no wars — outside of defeating ISIS, but I inherited that — but there were no wars. There was no October 7. There was no Russian attack on Ukraine. He sees that and he told me — he saw a world that was at peace. Now, we have a world that’s going to end up in World War 3 and I can stop that. I’m the only one that’s going to stop that.”
Breitbart also acknowledged that a great deal of Muslim dissatisfaction with the Democrats seems to stem from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East that was renewed and reinvigorated on October 7, 2023.
Breitbart News continues:
Ghalib was one of the leaders of the effort to get Muslim Democrats to vote “Uncommitted” against Biden earlier this year in the Democrat primary in Michigan, and then that movement transformed first into the “Abandon Biden” effort in the general election and has now become the “Abandon Harris” movement.
Ghalib, the mayor of Hamtramck who is also a Democrat and a Yemeni immigrant, represents one of the biggest Muslim communities in Wayne County, Michigan. The population is reportedly 60 percent Muslim.
“I talked to President Trump about, you know, some statistics here in Wayne County and how it used to be a stronghold for the Democrats, and we always used to vote Democrat. This is not the case anymore here.”
Breitbart News concludes:
If even a fraction of this community breaks with Harris and joins Ghalib in backing Trump for president this year, it could prove devastating to Harris’s electoral prospects. Again, well over 100,000 Michigander Arabs voted “Uncommitted” in the Democrat primary, which was nearly the full margin between Biden and Trump in the 2020 Michigan election results. The loss of this key demographic voting bloc for Harris could swing the state of Michigan to Trump, and it could therefore swing the presidency his way. If Trump wins Michigan, Harris’s already very difficult pathway to the presidency becomes even more dire.